Mentoring—An Unmet Challenge, 0711 COBJ, Vol. 40, No. 7 Pg. 99
| Author | A. Bruce Campbell, J. |
| Position | Vol. 40, 7 [Page 99] |
JUDGES’ CORNER
A. Bruce Campbell, J.
In
2002, under the leadership of the Faculty of Federal
Advocates (FFA), members of the Colorado bankruptcy bar and
the five bankruptcy judges for the District of Colorado took
part in Colorado’s first Bankruptcy Bench/Bar
Roundtable (Round-table).
The Roundtable format comprised five rotating forty-five-minute, ten- to twelve–person discussions of topics of interest, each led by an experienced practitioner and a sitting bankruptcy judge, with another lawyer acting as reporter. It concluded with ten-minute summaries by each reporter of highlights of the morning’s discussions. These summaries were turned into a brief written report that was circulated to Roundtable participants. This forum, in essentially the same format, has become an annual affair, with each Roundtable addressing topics of current interest to the bankruptcy bar and bench.
Professionalism and Mentoring
One topic at the Roundtable held in December 2010 focused on professionalism and mentoring. Specifically, participants exchanged ideas about core principles of professionalism within bankruptcy practice and the status of efforts to foster mentoring of lesser experienced practitioners. To appreciate the significance of these topics to the bar, to the bench, and to the public, one need only ask:
How is it that our noble profession—one that plays such a critical role in a democracy governed first and foremost by the rule of law—is possibly the only profession that turns loose on the public licensed neophytes without first requiring some sort of formal apprenticeship, supervised by experienced practitioners?
No doctor is licensed to practice in this or any other state without first completing years of internship or residency. Accountants must practice under the supervision of experienced accountants before sitting for a Certified Public Accountant exam. Before being licensed, teachers must student-teach under the tutelage of a licensed teacher. Architects, plumbers, and electricians are required to undergo similar oversight before becoming licensed to practice their professions and trades.
Participants in the 2010 Roundtable considered five questions related to professionalism and mentoring. The questions were:
1. What is the state of mentoring of young lawyers who practice in Colorado Bankruptcy Court?
2. To the extent lack of mentoring is a professional problem, what is the source of that problem?
3. How does lack of appropriate mentoring present itself in the bankruptcy courtroom?
4. What can young attorneys do to avoid pitfalls where there is no mentor to turn to?
5. What more might the profession do to support the less experienced among us, given the current state of mentoring in the profession?
As might be expected, five structured discussions among sixty lawyers and judges did not achieve much closure or many definitive answers to these questions. That was far beyond the objectives of the FFA’s efforts in choosing topics for its Roundtable. It is fair to say, though, that the Faculty’s objectives were met insofar as a number of participants left the discussion with a heightened awareness and concern about an important challenge we as a profession are facing. This article presents reflections on some of the issues raised during the FFA’s 2010 Roundtable.
Mentoring New Lawyers Today
Without the support of empirical research on the increase or decline of mentoring of new lawyers, the following comments are based on limited anecdotal evidence and observations in a single courtroom. Good mentoring is not a thing of the past. In larger commercial cases, lead counsel frequently is accompanied in court by “juniors” who serve as second, third, or even fourth chair. Sometimes, an inexperienced lawyer first-chairs a trial with an experienced colleague at counsel table, who is available throughout the trial for consultation.
One young lawyer at the 2010 Roundtable reported that she recently had taken a position with a lawyer five years her senior. She was enthused about his insistence that she “shadow” him during every aspect of the practice, before taking on lawyering tasks on her own. She reported having changed jobs from a larger firm where everybody was on his or her own, and nobody had time to mentor anybody.
About the Author
A. Bruce Campbell has been a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Colorado since 2001. Before that, he practiced banking and business law for thirty years, first with Davis, Graham & Stubbs and then with Otten, Johnson, Robinson, Neff & Ragonetti.
Judges’ Corner is published quarterly to provide information Colorado judges would like to disseminate to attorneys. If you would like to suggest topics or write an article for this Department, please send an e-mail to Coorindating Editor Hon. Alan Loeb, Colorado Court of Appeals Judge, at alan.loeb@ judicial.state.co.us.
There is little doubt that high-quality mentoring occurs in firms of all sizes, as well as...
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